The Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court, comprising Justice Sunil Dutt Yadav and Justice C M Joshi in the case of Ankit Kumar & Ors vs The State Of Karnataka & Anr has directed the Karnataka Examination Authority to not withhold the original documents of a candidate unless any legal provision enables them to withhold the documents .
Submission of the Petitioner
The Counsel on the behalf of the petitioner submitted that Karnataka Examination Authority has withheld the original documents submitted by petitioners at the time of second round of counselling. The petitioners desire to participate in the counselling process elsewhere in other states and hence, desire to obtain the original documents that have been submitted.
Submission of the Respondent
The Counsel appearing on the behalf of the respondent pleaded before the Court that the surrender of seats has the effect of depriving the other deserving meritorious students an opportunity and any permission granted for returning of original documents would encourage the practice of surrendering of seats to the detriment of other meritorious students.
He further submits that the embargo as pointed out in the notification of October, 2018 would not apply to KEA.
Court Reasoning & Judgment
The Court perused the facts of the case and after due consideration, it observed that the UGC Regulation refers to higher educational institutions and the retention of original certificates by them as also complaints regarding non refund of fees.
The Court further opined that “However, what would apply to higher educational institution would more so apply to the KEA. Unless there is a legal provision for withholding of original documents, the KEA also cannot withhold the documents. There is no rule shown to us, which provides that KEA could withhold the original records in the institutional custody.”
The Court also pointed out the Respondent’s submission and directed that if such practise result in meritorious students losing out on an opportunity then in public interest it is always open for the respondent - State and other authorities to take note of the same and formulate necessary executive / legislative procedure to take care of such practices, if there are certain loopholes being exploited for commercial gain.
Therefore, the court allowed the Petition without any cost and instructed the Respondents to return the documents .
Case Details
Case:- WP No. 25783 of 2022
Petitioner:- Ankit Kumar & Ors
Respondent:- The State Of Karnataka & Anr
Counsel for the Petitioner – K N Phanindra
Counsel for the Respondent – Smt. Shilpa S Gogi
Judge: Justice Sunil Dutt Yadav and Justice C M Joshi
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